There’s nothing that I love more than a showmance between two actors on a popular TV series (it’s possible that the happiest day of my life was when I found out that The O.C.’s Adam Brody and Rachel Bilson, a.k.a. Seth and Summer, dated in real life), but whatever’s been brewing between The White Lotus stars Aimee Lou Wood and Walton Goggins over the past few months seems decidedly more complex than a cut-and-dried on-set fling.
Goggins, of course, is married—he wed writer and director Nadia Conners in 2011—and I’m not necessarily implying that anything untoward took place between the actors who played Rick and Chelsea. (I’m just some woman blogging about blenders from a White Lotus x the Four Seasons x American Express pop-up retreat in Westlake Village!) That said, if you want a full breakdown of the “Silver Springs”–scored, Instagram-related perceived drama that has unfolded between Wood and Goggins as of late—and finally, their own take on it all—read on:
What’s the locus of the drama between Wood and Goggins?
In April, eagle-eyed Instagram users noted that Wood and Goggins no longer appeared to follow each other on the social media platform, despite the fact that Goggins had recently posted a 12-slide photo dump almost entirely of himself and Wood on set. His caption read, in part: “Thank you Aimee Lou for being my partner… a journey I will never forget.”(!)
Some theorized that Goggins blocked Wood, as her comments no longer showed up under his posts, but his comments were still visible on her posts.
What have Wood and Goggins said about each other?
Whatever was or was not going on between them, Wood and Goggins have continued to keep it positive in the press.
Of Goggins’s decision not to attend the cast’s season-finale watch party, Wood told The Hollywood Reporter on April 7: “I was sad that Walton wasn’t there because it was something that we did together, but also it’s so fucking Rick and Chelsea.” She added, “Like, of course Walton had to watch it alone and of course I had to watch it in the group because there is so much Aimee in Chelsea and so much Walton in Rick.”
Why are we assuming there was drama on the White Lotus set to begin with?
Well, Jason Isaacs—the actor who played preppy near-family-murderer Timothy Ratliff on the show’s most recent season—more or less confirmed to Vulture that something happened between some castmates, saying: “It was like a cross between summer camp and Lord of the Flies but in a gilded cage. It wasn’t a holiday. Some people got very close, there were friendships that were made and friendships that were lost… They say in the show, ‘What happens in Thailand stays in Thailand,’ but there’s an off-screen White Lotus as well, with fewer deaths but just as much drama.” Mike White, you need to hire Isaacs to join your one-guy writers room next season, because that man just built some suspense.
Neither Goggins or Wood have not responded to Isaacs insinuations.
How is Fleetwood Mac involved?
I’m so glad you asked! In addition to his grid post, in April, Goggins also posted several selfies of himself and Wood to his Instagram Stories set to the song “Silver Springs” by Fleetwood Mac—a band that, as comedian John Mulaney once put it, makes music “written by and for people cheating on each other.” Fleetwood Mac was legendary for its own interpersonal band drama, most notably during the years of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham’s situationship (or whatever they called a situationship in the ’70s), making me wonder whether Goggins chose the song deliberately, as an echo of the situation…or if he’s just a guy in his early 50s who really likes Fleetwood Mac.
What went down at the Met Gala?
As of the first Monday in May, Wood and Goggins were once again following each other on Instagram, although the two weren’t seen or photographed together at the Met Gala on May 5—even during the miniature White Lotus reunion on the blue floral carpet. (Could it be that Patrick Schwarzenegger worked some truce magic and got the two to make peace? The mind reels…) Interviewed on the carpet by Entertainment Tonight, however, Wood had this to say about her costar: “I loved working with Walton. It was the best thing ever.”
And then what did they finally say to Variety?
In a joint cover interview with Variety published in June, the duo got into it. The conversation happened in June, some four months after they’d last seen each other properly.
Goggins explained that since wrapping the show, he had been working intense weeks on his post-apocalyptic TV series Fallout. While the White Lotus cast watched the finale together at the aforementioned event, he was in New York for a late-night appearance. “I probably wouldn’t have gone anyways,” he told Variety.
But as their interview progressed, both began to tear up. They also embraced for so long that the Variety team voiced a little bit of discomfort. “I wish I would have been able to watch this with you,” Goggins told Wood. “It was so cathartic and so painful, and I regret that. I really do.” They kept hugging, laughing, holding hands, and exchanging compliments through the profile.
Goggins also voiced how awful he felt after sharing the SNL skit parodying Wood, immediately deleting it when he saw how she’d reacted to the bit. (Wood described the “caricature” as “misogynistic.”)
On the drama of it all? Goggins addressed that too. “There is no feud. I adore, I love this woman madly, and she is so important to me,” he said, gesturing to Wood. “This is Goldie Hawn. This is Meg Ryan. She can do anything, and she will. You watch what the next 20 years of her experience will be. I’ll be on an island, I think Greece. But she’s special. There is no feud. She is love and I know that I am that to her. We care about each other very deeply.”
Wood also responded to the Instagram unfollowing. “I think it’s such a comment on where we’re at culturally. Why is everyone obsessing over Instagram? That is irrelevant. We don’t give a shite about Instagram,” she said. “Why not have conversations about the story and Rick and Chelsea and enjoy it?”
Wood shared that she initially wanted to correct people, but knew anything she said would get twisted: “Eventually, I just started to sit back and watch these people making something out of absolutely nothing.”
Wrapping up, Goggins got his phone from the other room and added himself back to Wood’s list of three million followers.
“Hopefully that answers everybody’s questions,” he concluded.
